The natural gas market is known for price volatility. If you’re willing to accept that, then an investment in Tellurian (NASDAQ:TELL) might be worth considering. Admittedly, TELL stock hasn’t done extremely well over the long term, but it might be due for a turnaround.

With a market capitalization of around $1.21 billion, Tellurian isn’t the biggest or the smallest player in the natural gas market. There’s definitely risk involved with owning TELL stock, so please don’t take a huge position in it.

If you’re not familiar with Tellurian’s operations, no worries as I’ll give you the rundown. Also, there’s a recent development concerning Tellurian’s financial status that you’ll definitely want to know about.

But, first things first. Let’s start off with an analysis of TELL stock’s historical price action, along with an educated guess as to where it might be headed.

A Closer Look at TELL Stock

So, there’s good news and bad news when it comes to TELL stock. The good news is that it’s quite affordable for most investment accounts.

Perhaps there’s more good news in the fact that TELL stock has historically been prone to massive price spikes. Every few years, the shares suddenly double or triple in value.

The problem is that it’s difficult to time the next price surge. Also, the overall trend is to the downside. Back in the 1980’s, TELL stock traded above $10; in 2021, the bulls can’t seem to keep it above $4.

Also, I should caution prospective investors that Tellurian has trailing 12-month earnings-per-share of around -97 cents. That’s not very encouraging, as TELL stock traded at $3.38 on Feb. 24.

Hopefully, Tellurian will be able to get its earnings-per-share into positive territory at some point. With all of that in mind, let’s discover what Tellurian has to offer as a company.

What’s in the Pipeline at Tellurian

With its $25 billion investment in U.S.-based natural gas infrastructure, Tellurian is among the most ambitious competitors in the industry.

The company’s cornerstone project is known as Driftwood LNG (with “LNG” referring to liquid natural gas). Tellurian proposed to build the Driftwood LNG liquefaction export facility near Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Evidently, Driftwood LNG will have a production capacity of around 27.6 million metric tons per year.

Furthermore, Tellurian has an extensive pipeline-building segment. In fact, the company has “proposed over 1,000 miles and $7 billion in pipeline infrastructure that will create 15,000 construction and operating jobs in the U.S.”

Plus, the company has an upstream natural gas production segment based in the well-known Haynesville basin region. For this project, Tellurian’s strategy is to procure 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Additionally, Tellurian seeks to build a liquid natural gas trading organization. So, as you can see, the company is fairly diversified even though it’s focused on the natural gas market niche.

Paying Down Debt

Along with a basic knowledge of the company, any prospective TELL stock investor should want to know how the company is doing in terms of its balance sheet.

Thankfully, there’s good news to report on that front. Not long ago, Tellurian reported that it reduced the company’s debt by $57 billion.

That figure includes a voluntary principal prepayment of $43 million on a 2018 term loan, as well as $13.6 million in other debt repayments year-to-date to other creditors.

“Tellurian is delivering on our debt reduction plan and strengthening our balance sheet, with comfortable liquidity for operations and a market capitalization value of over $1 billion,” commented President and CEO Octávio Simões.

After the $43 billion prepayment, Tellurian will have approximately $80 million in unrestricted cash along with $25 million in borrowings.

That’s not a terrible fiscal position to be in, and hopefully Tellurian will continue to strengthen its balance sheet throughout 2021.

The Bottom Line

Overall, Tellurian appears to be in a fairly decent financial state. Moreover, it’s an ambitious company with diversified business segments.

The price action of TELL stock isn’t ideal, I’ll admit. Therefore, if you like what you’ve heard about Tellurian, a small position size might be warranted.

On the date of publication, David Moadel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.

David Moadel has provided compelling content – and crossed the occasional line – on behalf of Crush the Street, Market Realist, TalkMarkets, Finom Group, Benzinga, and (of course) InvestorPlace.com. He also serves as the chief analyst and market researcher for Portfolio Wealth Global and hosts the popular financial YouTube channel Looking at the Markets.